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#MakingADifference
#ForDogsSake

Mission: Serving K9s in THEIR Time of Need

We believe that every working K9 should have the equivalent medical, rescue, and evacuation resources available to them as their human counterparts. And it is our goal to achieve this through education at the handler, responder, veterinarian, and national industry level.

Education

The K9 MEDIC education program has been in development since 2004. It was originally based on the human Tactical Combat Casualty Care (TCCC) program before the Canine-TCCC was introduced and incorporated into the program in 2012. The K9 MEDIC training program provides K9 handlers, medics, tactical medics, and other support members with the medical skills needed to prevent and treat injuries and illnesses in working dogs. This is accomplished by teaching human medical practitioners how to transfer their existing medical skills to the K9 patient. We also work with K9 handlers to expand their medical awareness and skills. Finally, we work with those in the veterinary industry, teaching them how to apply their skills in a prehospital field environment.

Industry Standards

It is the ultimate goal of K9 MEDIC to work with industry standard-setting agencies to build a consensus of accepted standards and protocols for the prehospital care of working dogs. We act as advocates and consultants to assist with policy development, mutual aid protocols, and governing board approvals. We offer POST, RACE and EMS certification in many states and seek to create national multidisciplinary education standards.

Leadership Team

Jo-Anne Brenner, Executive Director and Founder 

Jo-Anne is the Executive Director and Founder of K9 MEDIC™, the leading multi-disciplinary team of Veterinary, Special Operations, EMS, K9, SAR and Education experts. Jo-Anne and her team have taught over 100 agencies domestically and overseas for the past 10 years. She is a frequent speaker across the country and a member of the K9-TECC Working Group and ACVECC VetCOT Prehospital Sub-Committee. She brings a broad spectrum of experience to her classes; previously, she deployed to Hurricane Katrina as a Tactical Medic and K9 Handler, hiked across the arctic circle, was a former wilderness medicine subject matter expert, an NREMT-I, and certified Protection Specialist. She has been invited to teach a wide range of students from local PD K9 Handlers to EMS agencies to Pararescue teams. Throughout her multiple education careers, she has taught more than 10,000 students in 14 countries, and in five languages.

Dr. KaLee Pasek, Education Director 

Dr. KaLee Pasek, Education Director for the K9 MEDIC program, is a sought out practitioner, educator, writer and consultant. She a graduate of Colorado State University and has been an active educator since 1999 teaching at LA Pierce College RVT School, Professional Veterinary Assistant School, and the University of Davis Community Veterinary Medicine Teaching Hospital. She lectures extensively and has developed many training programs and authored multiple publications for audiences ranging from the general public to the RVT students to veterinarians. She is a case reviewer for the State of California Veterinary Medical Board and consults for a wide variety of legal, commercial and government organizations. In the area of tactical medicine for canines, Dr. Pasek has been instrumental in developing field-realistic medically-sound treatment and education strategies. She is particularly adept at training each student level of handlers, medics and veterinarians with the specific knowledge and skills applicable to their background and working environment.

Advisory Team:

Our comprehensive Advisory Team includes Veterinary Specialists in Emergency and Critical Care, Surgery and Toxicology. We also draw from Tactical Medicine Physicians, TCCC Instructors, SWAT/Combat medics and EMS Agencies. K9 Handlers from law enforcement, the military and SAR ensure the techniques are field-ready.  Watch for new advisory team bios here soon!